Last Monday, corrections officers across the state began an unauthorized strike, plunging the state's prison system into disarray, with incarcerated people reporting missed meals, medications, showers, plus lockdowns lasting for days. Governor Kathy Hochul sent in the National Guard to try to replace the missing COs, and at least one incarcerated person has died in a prison staffed by National Guard members.
On Tuesday, state officials said that 9 out of ten state corrections officers have participated in the "wildcat" strike, which isn't technically sanctioned by the CO's union because it violates state law that prohibits government workers from participating in strikes. State troopers are now handing out court orders to striking officers, demanding they return to work or risk arrest, and the governor has floated the idea of sending New York's incarcerated people out of state until the strike is ended. Meanwhile, non-CO civilian staff at the prisons have been forced into doing the work of officers.